Burn (Breathless #3)(61)

She had a million questions. Nosy questions that she’d love to be able to ask Mia and Bethany. But she held her tongue. She wouldn’t want them prying into her relationship with Ash, and she’d offer them that same consideration. But it didn’t assuage the burning curiosity she had. Perhaps in time, if they became friends, she’d feel more comfortable having those kinds of conversations with the other women. But still, she knew without a doubt she never wanted to get into a discussion with Bethany about the fact she’d had a threesome with Ash and Jace. There was only so much envy she could handle!

Gabe and Jace were looking at her, open curiosity in their gazes. They likely were as curious about her as she was about them. But if they knew Ash, were as close as Ash had hinted, there was little doubt they knew exactly what kinds of relationships he preferred and that Josie was . . . submissive.

But if she thought they’d look at her with “less” in their eyes, somehow looking down on her or thinking they were “more,” she was wrong. There was nothing but interest. Concern for their friend, no doubt, and they were likely weighing whether they thought Josie was a good match for him.

Ash had said that in the beginning he hadn’t thought Bethany was a good idea for Jace, and in fact he’d been vocal about it. Were his friends thinking the same thing about her?

She didn’t want to be deemed unworthy. They didn’t know her and she didn’t want them passing judgment after only one glance.

“I’d love to see your work sometime,” Gabe said. “Think we could use a little jazzing up in our office building. All we have is a bunch of boring abstract shit. Think you’d be up for taking a look sometime and see what you could do to color up the walls a bit?”

She smiled. “Of course. I’d like that. But I’ll warn you now. My paintings are definitely colorful. I’m not into the dull, darker stuff. I like . . . vibrant colors. Themes. And I’d definitely have to shift gears. What I’m working on now would hardly be appropriate for a business setting.”

Ash coughed, choking on a laugh.

Jace’s eyebrows went up. “Oh? Do tell. What are you working on?”

She blushed again, knowing she’d stuck her foot in her mouth.

“The hell you’ll see what she’s working on now,” Ash said in an even tone. “That is for my eyes alone. But you’re welcome to see whatever else she’d like to show you.”

“Oh, now I’m curious!” Mia exclaimed. “What is he talking about, Josie?”

She cleared her throat, mortified at setting herself up this way. Her mouth had always gotten ahead of her brain, unfortunately.

“Uh, well, they’re kind of erotic.” She blushed again. “Self– portrait stuff. I mean it’s not like I had anyone else to use.”

“Oh,” Bethany said, her eyes twinkling with laughter. “Yeah, I bet Ash would go crazy if you showed them to anyone else.”

“Damn right,” Ash muttered. “No one’s seeing that but me.”

But someone else had seen them. Or at least the first one she’d taken to Mr. Downing. It had been sold with all her other paintings, and the others in that series that she’d taken to the gallery after the first sale. She wondered if it bothered Ash that some unknown person out there owned those paintings of her. She wished now she hadn’t sold them. Wished they could be for Ash alone.

“Josie, we’re planning a girls’ night out this week and we’d love for you to come,” Mia said.

Gabe and Jace promptly groaned and Ash grinned.

“What’s with the groaning?” Josie asked.

Ash laughed. “From everything they’ve told me, I definitely think it’s a good idea for you to go. But I’ll be very disappointed if you don’t come home shitfaced in a sexy dress and f**k-me shoes. It’s all I’ve been tortured with ever since the last time they all went out. Now that I get to participate firsthand, have to say I’m looking forward to it.”

Josie sent them all puzzled looks.

Gabe chuckled. “Let’s just say when our girls go out, they get drunk, have fun, but then they come home and take advantage of us poor menfolk.”

Bethany snorted. “Like you don’t enjoy it.”

“Didn’t say that, baby,” Jace said, amusement thick in his voice. But his expression and his eyes said it all. They’d grown positively smoldering as he looked at Bethany.

“So you’re okay with that?” she whispered to Ash so the others wouldn’t overhear.

Ash laced his fingers with hers underneath the table but then dropped her hand and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in close so their chairs bumped and she was nearly in his lap.

Evidently he hadn’t lied when he said he’d want to touch her, be close to her, and he didn’t give a damn who saw it.

“Oh yeah, I’m okay with it,” he murmured back. “If I get what Gabe and Jace get when their women go out and get drunk? Then yeah, definitely. I’ll even go buy you the dress and the shoes for the occasion.”

She laughed softly. “This warrants a new dress and shoes?”

“Definitely.”

“I don’t drink much, as I told you, but for this maybe I’ll have to make an exception.”

His eyes gleamed as he stared back at her. “Make an exception. I’ll make sure you don’t regret it.”